Early Career Psychiatrists' Perceptions of and Training Experience in ECT: A cross-sectional survey across Europe.
Out on PubMed, from an international collaboration of authors, is this paper:
Early career psychiatrists' perceptions of and training experience in electroconvulsive therapy: A cross-sectional survey across Europe.
Eur Psychiatry. 2025 Jan 13;67(1):e86. doi: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2024.1798.PMID: 39801359
The abstract is copied below:
Background: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a safe and effective treatment for several major psychiatric conditions, including treatment-resistant depression, mania, and schizophrenia; nevertheless, its use remains controversial. Despite its availability in some European countries, ECT is still rarely used in others. This study aims to investigate the experiences and attitudes of early career psychiatrists (ECPs) across Europe towards ECT and to examine how their exposure to ECT influences their perceptions.
Methods: In Europe, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among ECPs, including psychiatric trainees and recently fully qualified psychiatrists.
Results: A total of 573 participants from 30 European countries were included in the study, of whom more than half (N = 312; 54.5%) received ECT training. Overall, ECPs had a positive attitude towards ECT, with the vast majority agreeing or strongly agreeing that ECT is an effective (N = 509; 88.8%) and safe (N = 464; 81.0%) treatment and disagreeing or strongly disagreeing that ECT was used as a form of control or punishment (N = 545; 95.1%). Those who had received ECT training during their psychiatry training were more likely to recommend ECT to their patients (p < 0.001, r = 0.34), and held more positive views on its safety (p < 0.001, r = 0.31) and effectiveness (p < 0.001, r = 0.33). Interest in further education about ECT was moderately high (modal rating on Likert scale: 4, agree), irrespective of prior training exposure.
Conclusions: ECT training is associated with more favorable perceptions of its safety and effectiveness among ECPs. There is a general willingness among ECPs to expand their knowledge and training on ECT, which could enhance patients' access to this treatment.
Keywords: Europe; cross-sectional studies; electroconvulsive therapy; electroshock; psychiatry; training.
The paper is here.
And from the text:
Information about ECT education and attitudes is always a welcome addition to the ECT literature. This is a very nicely presented paper about the state of ECT education in Europe. It's either a glass half full or half empty, depending on how you look at it. But assuming the trend is going in the right direction, let's go with half full.
There is still a lot of work to be done to improve ECT training, but at least the younger generation of psychiatrists is receptive to this.
Kudos to these authors for an excellent paper!
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